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Audit committee to be explored

Maury County Commissioners voted Monday to form a committee to develop guidelines for an audit committee, a move the state has recommended at least twice.

The 18-4 decision came after a state audit on the county was released last week. Commissioners Andy Jackson, Mike Singleton, June Beckum and Judy Vick cast the dissenting votes.

Among the audit findings, it was revealed that the county could have missed out on revenue because the Maury County Solid Waste Department did not solicit bids for selling steel or iron, an issue that began in 2004. The department instead sold the metal for a penny per pound to a Mt. Pleasant company owned by the brother of Solid Waste Director Mike Sweeney, according to the report.

County residents and commissioners both advocated for an audit committee during the Monday meeting.

“We need another set of eyes on the system,” Spring Hill resident Trisha Stickel said when she approached commissioners. District 8 representative Debbie Turner said she was “embarrassed” about the audits findings.

It wasn’t until last year that the department solicited and received competitive bids from 6.5 to 8.5 cents a pound for the metal. A new local vendor is under contract for the metal until May, according to the audit.

County mayor Jim Bailey said during the meeting that he stood by the business decision, adding he personally investigated the matter in 2011. County Technical Assistance Service and a lawyer did not find a conflict of interest with the department head selling the metal to his brother, he said.

Bailey also said vendors in other counties were contacted prior to 2011, but either no one was interested in the metal or the cost of transporting it did not offset the sale profit. He estimated the county saved $43 million by selling the material instead of burying it in a landfill.